The advertising field is highly competitive, and a multitude of devices have been developed over the years in attempts to catch the eye or ear of the potential consumer; there has been a constant effort to develop devices incorporating attractive colors, sounds, and odors. Those involved in the industry are aware that movement attracts and holds the eye of the consumer more efficiently than other methods and advertising devices which do not incorporate movement. Well known in the art are the simple forms of flags, pennants and banners to the more sophisticated complex mechanical and/or electronic devices.
Typically, such mechanized devices have consisted of motorized, revolving or oscillating displays or figures. Tully, U.S. Pat. No. 382,445 and Littleton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 326,997 disclose early forms of such devices. The major disadvantage of these prior devices, however, is that the movement is constant, without variation so long as power is applied to the display. The typical person quickly becomes bored with such simple action and may not spend the time necessary to absorb the advertising message. Weiss et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,152.296 discloses a manikin wherein operation is activated by the proximity of a person in the vicinity of the apparatus, but the activating means (pressure sensitive floor switch active photoelectric detectors, or the like) merely serves to start and stop the device,. Once again, the movement of such a device is predetermined, and moreover, such means of activation may be triggered by other than human presence. This leads to unnecessary wear and tear on the mechanism.
Clearly a device which truly interacts with human presence by self activation, following by movement, and deactivation according to the proximity and movement of persons, is a desirable advancement in the art as it retains the attention and interest of consumers for a longer period of time. Therefore, such a device will more effectively deliver an advertising message of display to consumers. A passive infrared detection system in combination with such movable displays is a significant improvement in the state of the art. While passive infrared systems have been developed for the purpose of surveillance and intrusion alarms and are generally known in the art, typically these devices encompass a relatively large field of view (some 90.degree. degrees) and are mounted in a corner of a room or enclosure so as to survey the entire area, such devices are unsuitable for the relatively narrow field of view necessary to focus on a single person located at the front of the display. These systems use a relatively complex system of mirrors and/or sensors to cover wide field of view. What is needed is a device specifically designed and constructed to detect and interact with the presence of a single person or small group of persons in a relatively small angular field of view.